Mobile computing devices, such as smartphones and cellular telephones, can send and receive text messages through communication networks, such as text messages sent through a short message service (as called “traditional SMS” herein) and multimedia messages sent through a multimedia message service (MMS). For example, mobile computing devices can be notified that an MMS message is available for download via a wireless application protocol (WAP) push. In response to receiving a WAP push, the mobile computing device can be prompted to request the MMS message for download from a server system storing the MMS message.
Mobile computing devices can run applications, such as mobile applications (“mobile apps”), to transmit and receive text messages. For example, users can install mobile apps to send and receive text messages on a mobile computing device over IP network connections, which can also be referred to as “over the top” (OTT) transmission of text messages. In another example, mobile devices can run applications, sometimes factory installed, to send and receive text messages over PSTN connections.